Fuel Relief, Stable Cedi Helped Ease Inflation Pressures – GSS

Temporary government support for fuel prices and the relative stability of the cedi have helped cushion Ghana’s economy against external price shocks and moderate inflationary pressures, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has said.

Government Statistician Dr Alhassan Iddrisu said the measures had provided some protection for households and businesses at a time when international crude oil prices were exposed to significant volatility.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency after presenting the Consumer Price Index and inflation figures for July 2026 in Accra, Dr Iddrisu said the combination of fuel relief and exchange rate stability had helped prevent sharper increases in transport costs and the prices of goods and services.

He explained that without the interventions, international increases in crude oil prices could have translated into significantly higher domestic transport fares and broader cost pressures.

“The first time we saw increases in crude oil prices because of the Middle East war, we saw prices jump from around $80 per barrel to over $100 and that was very biting,” the Government Statistician said.

Government introduced a one-month fuel relief programme in April 2026, absorbing GH¢2 per litre on diesel and GH¢0.36 on petrol. The diesel support was subsequently reduced to GH¢1.07 for two months in May, before the GH¢2 per litre support was restored for one month in August.

Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, Finance Minister, also noted in the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review that the cedi had maintained the gains recorded in 2025 during the first half of 2026.

According to him, the relative stability of the currency had contributed to anchoring inflation at 5.3 per cent.

Dr Iddrisu said the impact of the interventions was particularly evident in transport prices, which had not increased as sharply as might otherwise have been expected given developments on the international oil market.

He said the stability of the cedi had provided an additional buffer because the transport sector depends heavily on imported spare parts and other inputs.

“If you watch transportation, even though you see positive inflation, you don’t see very strong movement in terms of the increase to commiserate with the increases we have seen in the prices of crude oil in the international market,” he said.

“Transportation depends on spare parts that are imported into the country. So, when you have a stable exchange rate, it positively impact on the prices of these items that are imported and affects transportation,” he added.

The Government Statistician said keeping petroleum prices relatively contained also helped businesses move perishable goods, including fresh vegetables and other food staples, at more predictable costs.

This, he explained, helped limit the extent to which transport-related cost increases could feed into headline inflation.

While acknowledging the immediate relief that fuel support can provide, particularly for households dependent on fixed incomes, Dr Iddrisu stressed that such interventions should not be viewed as a substitute for addressing structural weaknesses in the economy.

He urged policymakers and economic planners to evaluate petroleum relief measures from both a short-term stabilisation perspective and their longer-term implications for efficiency and fiscal sustainability, particularly within the energy and transport sectors.

Dr Iddrisu further called for greater investment in domestic food storage, agricultural logistics and transit infrastructure to reduce the economy’s reliance on emergency measures whenever global energy prices rise.

He also encouraged households and businesses to pay close attention to underlying transport cost trends when planning their expenditure, noting that reliable statistical information remained essential for understanding changes in the economy.

He reaffirmed the GSS’s commitment to producing objective, timely and transparent data to support government agencies, businesses and economic analysts in assessing how fiscal and monetary interventions are transmitted through the economy and ultimately affect living standards.